Why is my Toshiba external hard drive not being recognized by my new Mac?

Question

Level 1

5 points

Why is my Toshiba external hard drive not being recognized by my new Mac?

So: When I moved from Colombia I packed my stuff in an external hard drive, that was at the end of last year, Today I got my new MacBook Pro and I can't transfer my stuff because it doesn't even pop up anywhere. I read some other people's post and no: It doesn't appear in any of the two places people say it should appear (or I am not seeing it) whenever it doesn't automatically appears in desktop.

Funny story: It appears that my Mac's hard drive is a toshiba, the same brand as my 1tb external hard drive.

Suggestions?

iPod touch, iOS 5.1

Posted on Jul 14, 2012 10:07 PM

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Answer 1

Dscalf

Level 1

4 points

Aug 3, 2017 10:49 AM in response to danielrayrod

First it may be the same hard drive but they are programmed differently also mac has a different format for file storage so I would think too change info over take a Windows computer and change the info over

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Answer 2

Jul 14, 2012 10:09 PM in response to danielrayrod

open finder and click on preferences and make sure "external disks" is checked under "devices".

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Answer 3

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:09 PM in response to danielrayrod

Open Finder and see if it appears in the sidebar. If you don't see the drive, maybe you need to format it

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Answer 4

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:23 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

What is the finder's preferences?

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Answer 5

Jul 14, 2012 10:24 PM in response to danielrayrod

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Answer 6

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:28 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

hehe, it's been a long time, thanks. Nope, nothing, not appearing.

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Answer 7

Jul 14, 2012 10:28 PM in response to danielrayrod

ok so external disks is checked?

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Answer 8

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:30 PM in response to danielrayrod

Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities) and check if it appears. If you don't show a partition in it, format it in your PC

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Answer 9

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:35 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

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Answer 10

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:37 PM in response to mende1

there is a detail, the external hard drive has a white light with a PC and a blue light with this Mac. I don't know if it means... "not working" or... "oh, I'm connected to a Mac now"

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Answer 11

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:38 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

It has worked with a Mac before, with no formating after.

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Answer 12

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:44 PM in response to danielrayrod

I read that it's a problem in your drive (blue light). Does it appear in another PC now?

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Answer 13

danielrayrod Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 10:47 PM in response to mende1

It doesn't. I have two pcs and a Mac in front of me, the two PCs generate a "white light response" from my Hard Drive and a "blue light response" from my Mac.

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Answer 14

DPROTH

Level 1

5 points

Oct 12, 2012 5:02 AM in response to danielrayrod

To add another wrinkle to this thread, when I directly connect my Toshiba external HD to my new MacBook Air, I get the blue light of death, but when I plug it into my Logitech laptop stand with USB ports which is then connected to my MBA, I get the glorious white light of life and can access the files therein. Explanation?

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Answer 15

dRiAiNb

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2013 11:44 AM in response to danielrayrod

I'm having the exact same problem... I have my Toshiba 1TB Hard Drive which I formatted to FAT32 so I was able to watch films on my PS3 off of it and recently got a MacBook Pro 13" i7 8GB RAM 750GB HDD, which is unable to read it (and I'm experiencing the same White Light when used with a PC and PS3 - which is when it works, and Blue Light when it is plugged into my MacBook and unable to open).

I've tried to follow as many instructions as possible that I've found on the internet but nothing seems to work - it won't even appear in Disk Utility, I don't know what to do. All I need to know is whether this a problem that can be fixed or not - otherwise I'll just get a new Hard Drive.

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